Reflections
by Rose of Zakarisz
Summary: At the end of 'The War Child' Annie completes her unfinished business, it only took saving the world to do it. She has earned her eternal peace, but something is not quite right. Where is Mitchell?
1. Chapter 1

There were no men waiting for her when Annie finally crossed through her door. There were no sticks and rope to be afraid of. There was only her corridor, and little Eve, and grown Eve all waiting for her. With the baby in her arms again, Annie was ready to say goodbye. She could move on with a clear conscience and faith that the world would be all right without her. She had completed her unfinished business and it was time for her to see her friends again.

The light, when she stepped into it, was a warm and welcome embrace. Annie could feel her smile stretch impossibly wide as her vision came into focus and her surrounds became clear. The room she was in was wide and open, the reception hall where her grandparents had held their 50th wedding anniversary. She spared no more than a passing moment to take it all in before the waiting crowd enveloped her.

At the front were George and Nina, but their eyes were only for Eve. Annie laid the squirming bundle of baby into Nina's arms and there were tears in everyone's eyes at the reunion. George's lips formed words of gratitude, even if he could not make the sounds pass his lips. Annie nodded and watched as he wrapped himself around his family for the first time in too long.

After that it was a tidal wave of loved ones that washed over Annie; her Nannie Sawyer and both of her mother's parents, her cousin Jackie who had died in a car crash when she was 17. People she had missed and some that she had only ever heard stories about had all come to see her home. All but the one person that she was certain would have been the first to reach her.

Annie scanned the crowd in front of her, searching for an unmistakable head of dark, curly hair. Her Nan was chattering away again, but Annie had already stopped listening. She rolled onto her toes to get a better look over the heads around her.

A thought settled into her mind that perhaps he did not want to see her, that he could not forgive the consent that she had given for his death. Her heart had not beat in years, and yet she could feel it racing now at the thought.

Her eyes found George and Nina again, and she was grateful to see them making their way towards her and she broke away from the crowd to meet them.

"Hello, An-"

"Where's Mitchell?" She cut off George's greeting, the question springing from her like a reflex. There would be time for a proper hello after her mind had been put at ease.

The look shared between her friends did nothing to help her building panic attack.

George laid a hand on her shoulder. "He's not here Annie."

And just like that her world came to an end again. "He doesn't want to see me." She could feel herself crumbling. She wrapped her arms around her middle, a poor attempt to hold herself together. "And why would he?"

George shook his head and bent to look her in the face. "No. No, Annie. I mean he's not here. At all. I've looked." He straightened and sent a quick glance to Nina and the baby.

Nina tried to explain where George was failing. "None of them are. The vampires."

Annie could see that there was more to say more, but George pushed on first. "Do you remember when he died?" It was less than a second before he answered his own question, working himself into a ramble. "Of course you do. Not that you want to, I'm sure. I know that I don't. It doesn't matter if it's what he wanted, I still hate myself for doing it."

Nina's hand in his stopped him short and he took a deep breath before continuing. "There wasn't a door. Not for Mitchell. I've been asking around since I got here and I think I might know why." He paused for a moment, taking in the people still lingering around them. "Later. We'll talk later."

Annie wanted to protest. To demand that he tell her everything, and now. She had waited so long, sacrificed so much, to get this point. She could wait a bit longer. But there would be no eternal rest, not without Mitchell. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had declared herself to be his guardian angel. She would find him, wherever he was, and she would bring him home. On that she was settled.

"That's horrible. Why would you even say that?" Annie turned her back to George. In part because the idea was beyond repugnant, and in part because she feared that it might be true.

"I know, Annie, I know. But what other reason could there be?" She could hear in his voice how much the thought pained him. She took a deep breath to ground herself before turning back around.

She took a deep breath to steady her. The rules were different in this place; she was different. As a ghost existing in the world of the living breathing had been a habit, a memory, but not a necessity. Now, she could feel the air in her lungs, feel the action as it calmed her.

Half a day had passed since her journey through the door, or as near to it as she could tell with how time moved on this plane. George had promised her answers and she would have them or burst from the waiting.

"Hell? Really?" There was a desperate note to her voice that Annie had hoped to never use again. "How are we supposed to get him out of Hell?"

"Maybe we don't." Nina did not take her eyes from little Eve as she spoke and Annie hoped that it was guilt that kept the once-werewolf from meeting her eye.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Annie glared hard at her best friend but Nina did not flinch when she finally looked up.

George was quick to interject before more could be said. "What she means is, what if we can't? What if it's impossible?" His voice began to raise in octaves and Annie allowed herself a small smile at his squeak. She had missed him. "We can't just walk into Hell and pick him like a puppy in a shop. The Devil's not gonna ring you a receipt." He threw his hands in the air, at a loss. "It's mental, the whole idea of it."

Impossible or not, Annie had to try. Mitchell had crossed planes to save her once and she would do the same for him or die trying.

That thought gave her pause. Could a ghost die in Purgatory? She felt more real, more solid, that she had since dying.

Shaking her head, she pushed the notion aside to focus on the problem before them. She was not afraid to die again. Not for Mitchell. She had lost him once, had let him go, but she had always believed that he would be waiting for her when her time truly came. She had thought that death would offer him peace, not an eternity of torment.

George had moved back to Nina's side and Annie watched them together. They were a family again and they were whole now. She could not ask them to risk any more for her or Mitchell. "You're right. It was a silly idea." The laugh she gave sounded forced to her own ears and she could see that George was not buying it. "We don't even know if that's where he is." She gave a shrug, trying to be nonchalant and failing.

"Annie." George's tone was imploring, asking for so much in a single word.

She understood, she did.

"I've got to go." She was inching her way to the door of the little room they had sequestered themselves into. "So many people to see, so much catching up to do."

"Annie." He knew. She knew he knew.

"No, no. S'alright." She cast one last look to the baby in Nina's arms. The daughter that had almost called Annie mother. "I'm just going to find a friend. I'll be back later."

She did not look back as she stepped through the door, afraid to see the pity that was sure to be on George's face.

The room was the same as she remembered it; walls all covered with a life cut short; bed made, but not used. It was also empty, until suddenly it was not.

"Didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Annie turned and smiled at the owner of the room. "Hello, Lia."

They stood staring at one another for a handful of long, drawn out moments before Annie could take the silence no longer. She had never been very good with silence.

"I need your help." She knew that Lia was probably the last person that would want to help Mitchell, but the list of those that would was not a long one.

"I see." The young woman settled herself onto the bed, her back propped up by the metal headboard. "And here I thought you'd popped round for more girl talk."

"I need you to teach me how to watch people." Time meant nothing to the dead, but Annie had not been away from the world of the living for very long and she could feel every second ticking by.

"Sorry?" The laugh that Lia let out was genuine and lacked the harsh edge of the girl that had been bent on revenge.

Annie pointed a ringed finger at the tiny pink telly across the room. "Like how you showed me George and Mitchell. How did you do that?"

"Oh that." The girl on the bed waved her hand dismissively. "Practice. Anyone can do it." She let a sigh and shrugged. "Gets a bit boring here after a while. Watching the living is a great way to pass the time."

Annie was quiet a moment as she processed this. "And the dead? Can you watch the dead as well?"

Lia eyed her anew, squinting as if seeing her for the first time. "You're looking for him, aren't you?" Her laugh this time was the bitter sound that Annie remembered. "You won't find him here. His kind have their own special place."

"Can you help me find him?" Annie grasped the thought with both hands, ignoring the look of disgust on the other girls face.

"Why would I? He's where he belongs." Lia's gaze drifted to the bright window, even though nothing could be seen through it. "He can't kill anyone anymore." Her eyes cut back to Annie's, her look almost accusing. "You agreed that he should die, I saw it. So why shouldn't he spend eternity in the Hell that he's helped to build."

"It wasn't like that. I love him. I never stopped loving him." Standing still was creating an itch under her skin and Annie rubbed at her arms as she started to pace. "He finally took responsibility for his actions, he accepted the consequences, and I am proud of him beyond words. How many other vampires can say that? How many humans, for that matter?"

"I'll not help you." Lia stood, but made no move to close the distance between them. "I won't set my killer free and how dare you ask me to."

There was no filling the silence between them now and Lia's words laid a heavy guilt upon her. Eyes cast to the floor, Annie gave a nod and turned for the door. She had not really believed the other girl would help her. It had been a long shot to begin with.

Hand on the door nob, Annie turned at the sound of her name. "You seem like a really great person. What do you even want with him anyway?"

She did not turn around to answer. "You only saw him at his worst, but I got to see him at his best." Just the thought of those happy times brought tears to her eyes and she had to sniffle before continuing. "Can you imagine how hard it is for a creature that was born to feed on blood to be anything but a killer? Eight years may not be long in the whole of existence, but for a vampire that's gone dry every day is an eternity." she wiped the tears from her cheeks and finally turned to face the other girl. "The fact that he even tried, that he wanted to try, should tell of how great a man he truly was. He does not deserve to be punished for that."

This time it was Lia that looked away.

"I still won't help you," her eyes flashed up to Annie's for a moment, "but Gilbert is waiting for you. You were right, he is nice." The bitter girl was melting away again and for that, Annie was thankful. "He's the one that told me about where the vampire's go. He knew that you would want to know." There was a note of apology in her voice as she finished. "I was supposed to send you his way if I saw you first."

The thought of Gilbert, sweet Gilbert, still wanting to help her brought a bright smile to Annie's face. The first since she had realized that Mitchell wasn't waiting for her.

Crossing the room in quick strides, Annie wrapped her arms around Lia causing the girl to let out an exclamation of surprise at the embrace. "Thank you." Even if she had not shown Annie where Mitchell was, even if she had planned to keep Gilbert's message to herself, in the end, Lia had given Annie exactly what was needed: hope.

Hell had always been his end game. Mitchell had known where he would end up even as he agreed to be changed. Locked in his cage, tortured as he was, he could not make himself regret the sacrifice that had led him to this place.

At first he had been forced to relive the deaths of all the people that he had killed. The images replayed over and over around him. They played on the backs of his eyelids when he tried to shut them out. Then the memories began to warp, began to twist into events that had never happened, and that was worse.

He saw Josie as she had been when he had first met her. Saw himself tear her throat out, just as Herrick had wanted him to. He saw himself living with Annie. Vibrant and alive Annie, until he drained her dry at the top of the stairs, her limp body falling to the bottom, her lifeless eyes staring into nothing. He saw the two together, hating him; condemning him. But no one could hate John Mitchell more than he hated himself.

His corner of Hell looked like his jail cell in Barry; with brick walls, a solid door scratched with the writing of past inhabitants, and a window that looked out onto nothing. This was where he belonged. This was what he deserved. In the moments when the images became too much, when he thought about lashing out or trying to break free, he would see Annie again. His Annie, as she had been, so disgusted and disappointed with him, begging him to stay where the world would be safe from him.

He had not listened to her before, he had left with Herrick. He was always following Herrick in the end, even into Hell.

The weight of her gaze would push him back down as it had not previously, would keep him curled in the corner of his cell. He did not know how much more he could take. All that he knew was the blood, the death that he had caused, would have caused, could have caused. Every painful memory, every agonizing image that crossed his mind, was his own and he had earned each and every one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Finding Gilbert was easier than Annie had expected. Once she had the thought to look for him it was only a matter of moving from one room to the next.

He was sitting in a massive library at a wide table, feet propped up on the edge and cigarette in his mouth. He looked just the same as she remembered, all dark and brooding, with just the hint of a smile.

"Hello, Annie."

She was not sure what to say. The last time that she had seen him, he had confessed his love for her. Now she needed his help to rescue her own love. "Hey. Long time no see." It was a lame greeting, but she felt lucky for being able to say anything at all.

"Righ' then." He dropped his feet to the floor with a thud and nudged the chair next to him out a bit in invitation. "I suppose you'll be wanting to get down to business." There were books strewn across the tables surface, some open, others stacked on top of each other.

He pulled one over for her to see as she settled into the waiting chair. The pages looked ancient and worn, the lettering faded. On one side there was a depiction of a vampire; black eyes, bared fangs, and dripping with blood.

"What is all this?" She tore her eyes from the image to search Gilbert's face.

"One last project for us, eh?" His lips quirked into a proper smile for just a moment before he cleared his throat and turned back to the book in front of them. "I've been here a while, yeah? Been keepin' an eye out on you and your friends." He snuck a quick look at her from the corner of his eye. "I had a feelin' you'd be wanting to find your boyfriend when you got here, so I started lookin' into some things." He pointed to the book that he had opened. "This here is the Scriptures of Delphi, it's the oldest known record of vampire lore." He leaned back and waved his hand to indicate the rest of the books. "I've been through 'em all, trying to piece together wha' I can for you, asking around for wha' I couldn'.

Annie was beyond surprised, she was floored. When she tried to question him, he would not meet her eye and waved her off to continue his explanation.

"Near as I can tell it's like this: When a vampire is made the soul is taken and replaced with something dark, like a disease that eat away at their humanity over time, twisting the person they were until only an echo remains." He pulled another book to the front and opened it to a marked page, laying his finger on the image of a vampire in a cage. "The soul is kept in a waiting chamber in Hell 'til the vampire is staked, and then the sins of the vampire are added to the sins of the man and he is judged. Heaven or Hell's decided at that point." His tone grew soft and she knew it was for her sake. "But no vampire has ever made it to Heaven."

Annie traced her finger over the face of the vampire, trying to imagine Mitchell's features. "But that's not right, Mitchell never lost all of his humanity. I saw it." She shook her head, remembering all of the ways that he had shown how much he cared, little and big. The hugs, and late night talks, offering himself as a sacrifice to Herrick to protect herself and George. Those were not the actions of a soulless creature.

"Ah," another tome was brought forward and opened. "That would be the sacrifice." Gilbert turned to Annie, one arm draping over the back of his chair. "Did he ever talk about how he was made?" At the shake of her head he continued. "Took a bit of digging, but it sounds like he made a deal. His life for the life of his men. He was a soldier, did ya know?"

"He never really talked about it, his life from before." She drew her legs up onto the seat of the chair and wrapped her arms around them. This was more than she could have hoped for, this information, so why was she feeling the stirrings of guilt? Perhaps it was the way that she was learning about Mitchell's past. He had always been such a secretive person and a part of her felt as if she were betraying his trust all over again by disregarding his privacy. But it was the only way to save him, and Annie had learned in the time since his death, re-death, that some sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.

It had been a hard lesson to learn. One that she could see now that Mitchell had learned very early.

"Anyway, I can only assume that a par' of his humanity stayed with him because of tha'. Fighting to control what he had become." Gilbert paused there and squinted in thought. "It must 'ave drove 'im mental."

On that Annie could attest. A vampire's instincts at war with a human's conscience. It sounded too cruel.

She tried to focus on what she had just learned, on anything that could help her to find him. "So there's a place in Hell specifically for vampires that have yet to be killed."

"Yeah," Annie wrinkled her nose as Gilbert lit another cigarette. Not being able to smell the smoke was one thing about being a ghost that she would miss. "But tha's no' going to help you, is it? He's not there anymore."

"So where do they go when they do die?" She was so close. So close to finding a way to get Mitchell back.

"Tha', I haven' been able to find." Gilbert left the cigarette hanging from his mouth and handed her another book. "Bu', I did find this. It's what you need to be looking for." The page had no writing, only the sketch of a very distinct looking door. "The Gates of Hell."

Annie took the book with reverent fingers. She did not notice as Gilbert grew more and more insubstantial. It was not until he laid a translucent hand on her arm that she looked up.

"Oh my god." She was in a panic in an instant. "What's happening?"

"'S'alright, Annie." He moved his hand to cover her own, though she could hardly feel it now. "I've been waiting to see you one last time. But I've no reason to stay now."  
"I don't understand." Her hands fluttered around him, unsure of how to help. She recalled what it had felt like to fade away, but this looked nothing like that. There were no wisps curling away him, he was simply going out of focus.

The last she saw of Gilbert was his crooked smile before he was simply not there anymore. If he had more to say, it would be forever left unsaid. The only comfort left for Annie was the book still in her hands and the fact that he had looked at peace as he had faded away.

* * *

Annie knew that she could not start her search without first saying goodbye to her friends. There was no way to know for certain is she would be able to find Mitchell, let alone, make it back; though she knew she would not be returning without him. The thought of Mitchell alone in that place, enduring who knew what, it was an image that would not leave her mind.

George and Nina were through a door that brought her to a replica of the sitting room in Honolulu Heights. Baby Eve was laid on the sofa and both parents were leaned over her and making silly faces. Though, to be fair, George did have an unfair advantage.

The bubbly sound of Eve's laugh brought a pained smile to Annie's face. Eve was no longer her baby, no longer her responsibility, but that did not lessen the love that she felt for the little girl.

"How's she doing?" Annie spoke softly, not wanting to upset the happy atmosphere. "Is she adjusting okay?"

At the sound of Annie's voice, Eve's giggling shifted to the agitated gurgling that signaled a possible fit. Annie's arms ached to hold the baby, but she refrained from asking as Nina lifted Eve into a cuddle.

Nina was Eve's mother again, as she should be. For just a moment, Annie longed for the desolate future in which a bright haired girl had called her mum. It was a selfish thought, and quickly dismissed, but it still made her a bit misty eyed.

She let her eyes drift around her. It was so similar and so foreign, frozen as it had been before Nina's death. There was no rota on the wall, none of Tom or Hal's things to be seen.

"I wonder if the boys will stay in the house now that I'm gone." The thought was spoken without much thought and at George's curious look, Annie clarified. "Tom and Hal. They've been staying with us for a while now."

George's face scrunched up a bit in the way that meant he was not sure how to feel. "Who's Hal?"

"George," Nina was quick to reprimand him, but Annie did not mind. I reminded her of the days when he and Mitchell had been her protectors, watching from the windows as she had met with Gilbert or Sykes, playing 20 questions about Saul.

"He's a vampire." At that even Nina looked a bit upset. "No, it's fine. He's my friend," she was quick to reassure.

"You let a vampire into the house after what happened to Nina? To me?" George was up and shaking in his agitation. "Jesus, Annie, what were you thinking?"

"He's not like that." She hated the looks on their faces, the disgust and mistrust, and to know that they were thinking about someone that she would call her friend. "He's one of the good ones."

"So was Mitchell." Nina's words cut at Annie like a blade. "But that didn't save all those people on the train."

If a ghost could go pale, Annie was sure that she had. She felt sick and weak and just wanted to turn around and walk away. The worst of it, though, was that she could not argue against what Nina had said. It was true.

Something of what she felt must have crossed her face.

"I'm so sorry, Annie." Nina passed the baby to George and crossed the distance to where Annie stood frozen. "I didn't mean it like that. It was cruel of me to say."

Annie could only nod, not knowing quite how to respond. She let Nina pull her into an embrace and returned it as best she could.

When they pulled apart, Nina looked like she on the verge of tears. "I just can't stand the thought of losing my family again after having just got it back." She gave a self deprecating laugh and wiped at her eyes, but there was no humor in it.

"Hey, it's okay," Annie did her best to reassure her friend. "You're right, you're completely right." She took a deep breath and put on her biggest smile. "That's why I'm going alone. I just wanted to say goodbye before I was off. Just in case." Her voice trailed at the end and her smile felt fragile, but she would be strong for her friends. Like she had told Mitchell, so long ago, when it came to the well being of those that she loved, there was nothing that she would not do.

"Like hell you are," George's indignant voice grew in volume as he moved closer, the baby still cradled to his shoulder. "Absolutely not. I forbid it."

"Oh George." It was Annie's turn to cry now. Nina moved to put one arm around George and Annie tried to memorize her friends as they were in this moment, a happy family. "Just look at you. This is where you belong."

"But you can't go on your own." His voice was getting squeaky again, a sure sign of his distress. "You don't know what you'll be facing. What if you have to fight, Annie?" His tone dropped back to a reasonable pitch, and she was certain that he believed that he had won the argument. "You apologized to a vampire for hitting him with a chair."  
She met his gaze, unflinching. "Things change." He could never understand how much. "I've changed." Hell hath no fury, or so they say. There was a burning in her chest, a missing piece that had to be found and she knew just where to look. All she needed was the door.

"I'm going with you." George handed Eve back to Nina, ignoring the protests of both women. "No. No arguments." He turned his focus on Nina. "Mitchell wasn't just my friend, he was family." He turned back to Annie and nodded. "And I trust your judgment. If you of all people don't think he should be... where he is... then we're going to get him out. End of discussion."

After that it was just a matter of sharing what she had learned from Gilbert. They had a plan. It was not a very good plan, but even a bad plan was better than no plan at all.

Find the door. Cross over. Find Mitchell. And run.

* * *

The voices were back, whispering in his ear again. Lies, always lies, but with enough truth that Mitchell was beginning to believe them.

' _Annie is coming_ _'_ , they would say.

' _She's been_ _such_ _a naughty girl since you've been gone._ _'_

He could not think about her being in a place like this, he could not.

' _She's earned a cage right next to yours._ _'_

No. Not pure, sweet Annie. Annie who had never had a mean bone in her body.

' _You can watch as we tear her apart, over and over again._ _'_

He knew it was a lie. It was a lie. It had to be a lie.

The torment that he had been feeling since waking in his cell was nothing compared to the fear that he felt at the prospect of Annie sharing his fate.

* * *

Annie had known that finding the door to Hell would not be easy. What she had not considered was the frustration that would come with not being able to count the days. She had no way of knowing how much time had passed since she had left the world of the living, no way to judge how many unnecessary days Mitchell had been made to endure because of her failure.

She was back at the Heights, scrubbing the inside of the spotless oven while trying, and failing, to figure out what it was that she was missing.

With a groan of irritation Annie turned to rest against the cupboard and threw the scrub brush across the room. The brush sailed through the open window and into the front room just as George entered the kitchen.

"Back to poltergeisting are we?" It was said with a smile and a chuckle at his cleverness as he took a seat at the table.

Annie had a moment of regret that she had not been aiming for the door.

Nina entered behind him carrying Eve and settled them both in one of the vacant chairs. Annie picked herself up from the floor to make them all a cup of tea. Never mind the fact that they were all dead, it was a familiar routine and a comfort. Add to that the fact that she could actually drink it now and Annie might have been willing to call this place paradise. If not for the one incredibly important piece that was missing.

The oven door was still hanging wide open and the bucket that she had planned to use to mop the floor with stood ready by the sink.

"Annie," Nina's tone was cautious, as if unsure that she should continue. "You know that you don't have to do all this, right? What messes do get made can be put right with only a thought."

What Annie would not give to have Tom around and his unending trail of debris. "Yeah, I know." She made sure to smile as she set the cups on the table and slid into her seat. "I just like keeping busy."

The look of sympathy that she received from Nina sent a spike of anger through Annie. One that she was quick to tamp down on. Nina was only trying to be a good friend, and Annie knew that.

"So," George clapped his hands to break the silence. "Where do you want to look next?"

That was the question. Annie was beginning to think that they had been going about their search all wrong. There had to be a trick to finding the door; a hidden catch in a wall somewhere, or a special word to make it reveal itself. None of Gilbert's books had been able to help.

The image flashed through Annie's mind of Mitchell, surrounded by flames and pleading for her help. It was an image that had been plaguing her all but constantly since her arrival and it had begun to wear on her fraying nerves.

What if Nina had been right? What if saving Mitchell was impossible?

"Maybe you should take a break." Nina paused to take a sip of her tea and Annie sent her a look that made her feelings clear on the subject. Ignoring Annie's glare, Nina continued. "It's obviously not working, so stop until you can think of something better."

Maybe it was the casual way that Annie's worst fears had been spoken, or the fact that Nina had never been Mitchell's biggest fan, but an all-consuming wave of resentment washed through Annie.

She stood from the table, her chair scraping across the floor behind her, and Annie towered over the shocked faces of her friends.

"I will find that door." She did not notice the sudden wind that whipped through the room. "I will claw my way into Hell if I have to." She had no way on knowing that her eyes had begun to take on a glowing violet hue. "I will find Mitchell and I will bring him back here and I don't care if I have to kill the Devil to do it."

Nina had never been frightened of her before, but Annie could see the apprehension as the other woman shrank back.

And then it was there.

Annie could feel the pull of it from the next room. She moved past her friends without a word, too afraid that to speak would break whatever spell had brought the door.

"Did you-? Did you see-?" George was stammering again, even as he moved to follow her. "I hate it when she does the eye thing. It's just creepy."

The door was an exact match to the picture that Gilbert had given to her. Black, plain, with no markings. At first, she had wondered how she would know which door was the correct one, but there was no doubt in her now. Annie reached a hand out to lay against the wood. It was cold, so much colder than she had been expecting, and the shock of it brought her back to herself.

"This is it." Annie turned back to see George's uncertain face and Nina's terrified expression. "George, you don't have to come. Stay here."

Her request seemed to strengthen him. "No. No, I need to do this." He turned to Nina and kissed her, cutting off whatever comment he had been about to make. "I'll be back soon. I promise." He laid a reverent kiss to Eve's head and then joined Annie by the door.

She took a deep breath before grabbing for the knob and turning.

There was no bright light, as all the other doors had offered. This was a doorway that ate light, that absorbed brightness into an abyss and left nothing but empty darkness in its place.

Annie took hold of George's hand before stepping through.

* * *

It was from one moment to the next that he felt it. As clear as if she had rent-a-ghosted into the cell with him.

Annie was in Hell.

A panic overtook Mitchell, one that he had not been able to muster from the thought of his own eternity in damnation.

He had to get out.

He had to find her.

He had to save her.

He fisted his hands in his hair, trying to block out the never-ending images that were still bombarding him. The voice of Annie, begging him to stay, rang hollow in his ears as he struggled to his feet. The pictures playing out around him lost their colour; faded back into the walls.

Mitchell knew what he had to do next.

Perhaps an eternity in Hell was what he deserved, but not his Annie. He would not, he could not let that happen.

For the first time since he had woken to find himself in this reality, Mitchell rebelled against it. With a cry of desperation, he threw himself at the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Annie was fast learning that nothing about the afterlife was as she had expected it. She thought that she had learned that lesson years ago, and yet she still found herself surprised to be standing in the middle of what looked to be an old hotel corridor. The kind of hotel that had once been posh, but now just seemed a bit sad.

Her hand was still firmly clasped in George's and for that she was grateful. There had been a moment as they passed through the door that she had worried that they would be separated.

"Which way, do you think?" He turned to look up and down both ends of the corridor.

Each way led to perpendicular halls, with doors and more turns interspersed along the way. She had a brief moment of panic. There were too many choices, too many places to look. There was a feeling deep within her that made her want to hurry through, that told her that this place was unsafe.

She closed her eyes to try to ground herself. Panicking would not help her find Mitchell faster.

Without opening her eyes, she turned on one heel. "That way." She looked to see George shrug and nod. It was as good as any place to start looking.

Annie set off at a jog, eager to start their search for Mitchell, now that their search for the door was over. She was halfway down the hall before George's hushed voice stopped her.

"What're you doing?" He was standing with one hand on the knob of a door, only a short distance from where they had appeared.

"I'm looking for Mitchell." She gave him a dubious look, answering him in a matching whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Actually looking." He rolled his eyes before poking his head through the doorway.

Whatever it was that he had seen had him closing the door again swiftly. He waited only a moment with his back pressed to the wood before hurrying to catch up with her.

She turned to head off again when he reached her side and paused for only a moment before turning left at the end of the corridor.

"Do you even know where you're going?" She could hear the tinge of hysteria that was distinctly George.

She shook her head in answer. There would be no way for her to explain what was driving her.

The hall ended at the doors to a lift and she pushed the button to call for it. Standing in the hotel that wasn't a hotel, waiting for a lift that may or may not come, it was all too surreal.

As tense as she was, Annie was still taken off guard when the doors opened and two men were waiting inside. Two men with milky eyes and sticks with rope.

George let out a shout and shoved Annie behind him. She could hear him muttering but did not have the wherewithal to focus on his words.

As the men stepped forward, George stepped back, pushing her with him. She called his name, hoping to snap him out of his stupor. Death was inevitably a traumatic experience, perhaps she had passed through too many doors to find the presence of these men terrifying any longer.

Annie ducked under George's arm to face their pursuers. "Where's Mitchell?" She would take their appearance as a confirmation that she had been on the right track.

"So good of you to visit us Annie." The one in front smiled a decaying smile, still stalking forwards as she and George moved back. "Saves us the trouble of coming to get you."

The second man had his eyes trained on George. The hall was too narrow for the men to try a flanking maneuver, but she feared that they were being herded. She had not come all this way to be stopped by a couple of un-dead dog catchers.

"You can take me to Mitchell now or I can go through you." George had stopped speaking and Annie took that as a good sign as well. She planted her feet, refusing to give an inch more, and was grateful when George stepped up beside her.

"What she said." He threw in for good measure, even if his voice still held a squeak.

The men chuckled but did not draw any closer. "We've been watching you Annie. We know what you've done. There's a room here, all ready, with your name on it."

The sound of their voices grated on her nerves.

"What?" It took her only a moment to understand what they meant. "That was completely an accident." Her voice sounded defensive even to hear own ears. She spoke to George as well as the men in front of them. "And I helped Emrys cross over, so really, it's not that big of a deal."

George nodded and faced forward before whipping around to look at her again. "Wait a minute. Did you kill someone?"

"I told you it was an accident, and he was old anyway." Annie straightened from her defensive posture to face George. "I thought he was a vampire coming after Eve, what was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno," he took on a mocking tone, "not kill little old men?"

She huffed at her friend in outrage and the men took that opportunity to attack.

It was not hard to avoid the catch poles and Annie rammed her knee into the gut of the man that ran for her.

When George noticed that she had made it past their assailants he yelled for her to keep going.

This could be her only opportunity. She wavered in indecision. "I can't just leave you on your own." She watched as he grappled with the smaller of the men. Clearly the were not used to their query putting up much of a fight.

"I'll be fine." He landed a punch to the man's nose and sent the catcher sprawling. "I'll be right behind you."

The other catcher was beginning to rise and she turned and ran when their eyes met. She truly hated to leave her friend behind, but she had to trust that George knew what he was doing.

As the doors closed on the lift she turned to watch her friend as he fought, hoping that this would not be her last memory of him.

* * *

When the doors opened again it was to show a darkened hallway. Annie moved forward with cautious steps, peering ahead as best she could. Every so often she would pass the red illumination of emergency lighting but their muted glow gave her no comfort.

She had passed two intersections with no sign of anyone, friend or foe, and her pace increased as adrenaline pounded through her system.

A door opened as she ran by. She had no time to react as she was grabbed from behind and pulled against a solid body.

Kicking and clawing at the form that held her, Annie was desperate to break free.

It was the sound of the voice more than the words spoken that caused her to go rigid.

"We've been waiting for you Annie."

She was almost afraid to say the name out-loud, fearful that to speak it would make it true. "Herrick."

His chuckle was a harsh sound in her ear. "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to stamp out the last of our John's humanity?" He did not wait for her to answer and she offer one. "But I see it now, the clever bastard. He doesn't have it anymore."

Annie renewed her struggle, with little success. "That's not true. You're wrong."

He laughed again, a low and humorless sound. "You misunderstand me. He no longer has it within him." His grip tightened to a painful degree and he moved one hand to lay over her heart. "It's here." He paused a moment and she could hear the smile in his smug voice when he spoke again. "And now I've got it right in the palm of my hand."

He was pulling her backwards, away from where she had been heading and towards one of the many doors along the corridor. Her mind raced with panic, searching for a way to break free. "Shouldn't you be burning in eternal damnation?" Maybe if she could keep him talking she would be able to find an opportunity to escape.

"You're not overly bright, are you?" He did not slow his pace, or loosen his grip. "There is no Heaven, no Hell." At this he scoffed. "Faith, belief, it's all a load of rubbish, a trap for the weak minded. This place is only a punishment for those who believe they should be punished." The next words were whispered into the shell of her ear. "For those that know better, this is a paradise."

He freed one arm to reach for the door knob and, grasping at what hope she could, Annie brought her foot down hard on the instep of Herrick's foot. He swore and loosened his grip just enough for her to slam her elbow up and into his face. His roar of pain echoed down the empty hallway, but Annie was already running.

She could hear the pounding of feet behind her and Herrick's voice caught up to her, taunting her. "If he's here, it's because he wants to be, Annie. That's how it works. A Hell of his own making."

Every connecting corridor looked the same, every door remained unmarked, and doubt began to claw at her. She still had no idea where she was going and she could hear Herrick gaining on her. Deciding to take her chances, she turned down the next hallway. Her plan had been to choose a door at random to slip through, but her body refused to slow down. Panic had set in and her legs would not stop their flight.

She heard another door open. There was an awful sounding thud and then a body dropping to the floor. Heart pounding in her ears and breath coming too fast, Annie risked a glance over her shoulder and nearly tripped on her own feet trying to stop.

Mitchell.

He was dressed in an old army uniform, but she would know him at a glance.

She called his name, more to hear the sound than to get his attention. Her vision was blurring and she wiped at the tears, afraid that if she blinked he would be gone.

He looked up at the sound of her voice and she heard her own name in return. It had been years since she had heard her name pass his lips.

It was a replay of her rescue from Purgatory; she ran to him, he stumbled to catch her and then they were together. The ache that had been a part of Annie for so long now eased. She held him to her, not able to pull him in close enough. She had forgotten the smell of him. There had always been the knowledge that she missed it, but not the memory of what she had been missing.

She pulled back enough to see his face and no further. That serious brow, those dark eyes, his beautiful lips. They moved together, meeting in the middle in a kiss that had been a long time in coming.

They were not safe, not yet, and it was not the most romantic of places to hold a reunion, what with Herrick still laying at their feet, but for Annie it was perfect.

Mitchell broke away first and leaned his forehead against hears. "You have to leave." His voice was strained; broken. "You don't belong here."

He pulled away, though to do so looked to pain him, and led her by the hand back the way that she had come.

She let him guide her for a few steps before responding. "You don't either."

He kept his silence and when she tugged on his hand he refused to look at her.

Afraid that her efforts would be all for nothing, she tried again. "I'm serious Michell, I came here to get you."

At that he stopped and turned to her, the look of anger-tinged disbelief plain on his face. "You came here? On your own? How stupid can you be, Annie? You never should have come."  
She could feel her hackles rising. "Don't call me stupid. I'm trying to rescue you."

His tone was derisive when he spoke. "And a grand job you're doing of it, too."

He turned away again, more dragging than leading her along at this point.

"Stop it, just stop." All of this had the flavor of days long past. He had pushed her away before and she would not let him do it again. "Look at me." When he did not stop she dug her heals in and pulled. "Mitchell. Look at me." He was turned to face her, but still would not meet her eye. "You don't belong here."

"I do." He shook his head. "You know I do." He flashed his eyes at her for a second before looking away again and she could hear the plea in his voice. "But I need you safe."

She squeezed his hand where she still held it in her own. "If you stay, then I stay. That was the deal, remember?"

His eyes pinched shut and he was near to begging her. "Annie, please."  
Soft and gentle, her answer was out of place for where they were. "Do you trust me?"

When he refused to answer she moved to stand in front of him. She freed her hand from his grip to lay both on the sides of his face. "Do you trust me?"

His voice, when he spoke, was a whisper and he finally opened his eyes to look at her. "You know I do."

The smile that she gave him was one she had not been able to find since she had lost him, the one that was his alone. "Come home."

He searched her gaze, desperate to accept what she was offering him. "I don't deserve you."

She pressed her lips to the corner of the mouth. Not a kiss of desperation, like the last one, but an act of absolution.

"I don't care." She whispered into his skin.

"If you two are done having a domestic," George had finally caught up with them, "can we maybe go now?" He slowed to a stop beside them and gave Mitchell a once over. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Mitchell let out a laugh, the first Annie had heard from him since long before his death, and he moved to pull George into a firm embrace. She finally let her eyes take in all of her lost love. Gone were the skinny jeans and fingerless gloves that she had always associated with Mitchell, and in their place was the great coat and uniform of a soldier, the clothes that he had died in.

The sound of the lift dinged in the distance and Annie watched as the catchers emerged.

"Guys," she reached for Mitchell's arm and raised a hand to point at the oncoming threat.

George turned to face the men, ready to continue his brawl from earlier. "As frightening as they look, they're actually a bit of a disappointment when it comes to fighting."

As the two men passed one of the side corridors they were joined by two more catchers, and then another, and another.

"All the same," Mitchell grabbed George by the arm and began to back up, pushing Annie behind him, "Maybe we should just find another way out."

The three turned as one to run but only made it a few steps before Herrick was in front of them. More catchers stood at his back, boxing in the trio.

Annie found herself sandwiched between her two friends, with the distance closing fast between them and being captured.

"No." It was a whisper, but the sound reverberated inside of Annie and grew in strength. She had not come so far only to have her love ripped away from her again. And they would use her to hurt him. Her fear turned to anger and it was all consuming it its righteousness. She heard someone calling her name but had eyes only for the ones who would dare to threaten her friends, her family.

It was instinct after that. Annie raised a hand in either direction and hurricane winds whipped through the corridor, pushing back their assailants. There was a new light growing in the dark space around them and it was a moment before Annie realized that she was the source. George and Mitchell were still beside her, their eyes wide and mouths agape. She saw Mitchell speak her name, but could not hear it. Her gaze traveled past them to the door they had stopped in front of and she moved towards it with a purpose.

Mitchell reached out to stop her but George caught his hand and held him back. Their rising voices were a hum in the background of her mind but she did not care to make out the words. They were done here and it was time to go home.

The door opened with ease under her hand and there were no tormented souls behind it, no horrifying scenes being depicted. She could see nothing past the light that escaped the doorway but she knew that this was the way out.

Turning back to the hall she could see the catchers recovering, could hear Herrick screaming obscenities at them. Mitchell was still frozen where he stood watching her, but George was quick enough to react. He grabbed Mitchell by the arm and dragged the other man to the door. Together, the three left the darkness behind them. Together, they went home.

* * *

When Annie came back to herself she was sitting in the front room of the B&B with a mug a tea heating her chilled fingers. Mitchell was knelt on the floor in front of her and, though Annie could see his lips moving, she could not hear the words. The fog lifted from her mind bit by bit and she could take in more of the room; George by the bar with Eve in his arms and Nina curled into his side, full cups on the surface of every table and counter top to be seen.

"Please Annie. Come back to me."

She could feel Mitchell's fingers combing through her hair and his face lit up when she finally focused on him.

"There's my girl." The smile he gave her sent whirlwinds of butterflies fluttering through her belly.

Mitchell pulled her into his arms and Annie buried her face in the crook of his neck. Oh, how she had missed him, everything about him. A thought occurred to her that had passed her by during their reunion. "I can feel you." She puled back to caress his face; the bridge of his nose, the softness of his eyelids, the fullness of his lips. "Properly feel you."

Perhaps it was too soon, too rushed, but there was still a trace of excitement coursing through Annie from their adventure and she sealed her mouth over his in a kiss.

A groan came from George and a scolding for improper behavior in front of a baby. Annie chose to focus on the hum of surprise-turned-pleasure that passed from Mitchell to her. She could feel his hands fisting in the cloth of her top and she buried her fingers into the locks of his hair, so much shorter than she was used to it being.

He pulled away to rest his head against hers. "I still can't believe this is real."

There was a hesitance to his voice, a longing that made her question his meaning.

They had not moved from where they had started, she was still sitting on the couch with him kneeling in front of her. It was odd to look down at him and she stood and offered him her hand.

It was a relief when he accepted. There was a lingering fear that he would choose to close himself off again, that he would pull away from her as he had in the past.

George and Nina said not a word as the two passed them and she led up the stairs and to his old room. There was a feeling of homecoming as they settled on the bed together. He was no longer a vampire and they were something more than ghosts, but she pushed aside the part of her that yearned to touch him. Once upon a time he had asked her to go slowly and she would not cross that boundary until he invited her, not yet anyway. Even still, she reveled in the feeling of laying in his arms again.

One of her hands had landed over his heart, from habit or chance it did not matter. There was no heartbeat beneath her fingers, but the memory of a heartbeat was still there.

"You can talk to me," her voice was quiet and she did not move to see him face, "if you want."

The long breath that he let out was a heavy one and he rolled to curl around her. It was a long while before he spoke and when he did it was quiet and stuttered. Annie held her breath for fear that any disturbance would make him stop.

"I saw things while I was there. Memories, could-have-beens, would-have-beens." She felt him press a kiss to her hair. "I saw you, I saw this house." His arms flexed around her, pulling her into him even more until there was no space left between them. "I've been through this before Annie and it always ends the same way. With me back in that cell, alone." He moved one hand to brush the hair away from her face and pulled back enough to look at her. "It's never been this real before. I don't think I'll survive when this all goes away."

Annie swept the backs of her fingers down his cheek and placed a chaste kiss to his lips. "This is real." She did not know what to say to make him believe it. "Herrick said something to me, when I came to get you." At the mention of the other man's name Mitchell's whole body tightened up. "He said there is no Heaven or Hell. He said that if you were in that place it was because you wanted to be." She watched as his brow scrunched up in confusion and she pressed on before he could speak. "I think I understand it now. This place, where you were, it's all the same. We go to where we think we should. If that makes any sense." She shook her head at the jumble of her words. "What I think is, if you believe that you should be here, then nothing and no one can take you away."

There was a shine to his eyes and she could see that he wanted to trust what she was saying. She had never met anyone that carried so much guilt, it was beginning to make her worry that he would fade away, as Gilbert had; that he would return to the place that he feared, only because he could not allow himself to be happy.

"I wish," she paused, unsure of how to put into words what her desire was. "I wish that we could try again." Her own eyes were wet when she met his gaze. "I wish that we could start over, together. Live a happy life, normal or not, I don't care. A clean slate."

He pulled her back into him and she clung as if her hold on him would keep him from disappearing. With her face hidden in his chest, Annie did not see the light at first. It was Mitchell's startled exclamation that caused her to turn and look.

A new door had appeared against the wall. One that she had never seen before.

They had both sat up and Mitchell grabbed for her arm when Annie moved to get a closer look. She could hear the fear in his voice when he begged her not to go closer, and it was a shock. She had seen him scared before, but always in an abstract way, always behind a strong front. His mask was completely gone now and his eyes implored her not to go near the unknown.

But there was a pull in Annie, a feeling that told her that she could trust where this door would lead her. It was her turn to be the brave one and so she turned to kneel on the bed, taking both of his hands in her own.

"Together?" She moved to the end of the bed, never releasing his hands. She held his gaze with her own and backed towards the door. When they were standing in front of it, she broke his gaze and let go with one hand to lay it on the wood of the door. "It's warm."

So unlike the door that had led her here. There was a promise emanating from beneath her hand. This portal was a beginning, not an end.

She looked up at Mitchell again and was happy to see that the fear had dissipated. His own hand was against the wood now and a small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

She squeezed the hand still held in hers and he turned his head to look at her.

"Together." It was a statement this time and he nodded in affirmation.

There was no telling how long the door would be there, there was no time for goodbyes for their friends downstairs. But the little family was together again, George and Nina and Eve, and Annie had no doubts that they would be fine.

Hand in hand the two left the B&B. Together, they left to start their second chance.


End file.
